Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Friday that his Europe tour marked a good start for China's diplomacy in 2010 by conducting a flurry of bilateral and multilateral talks.

From Jan. 25, Yang attended conferences on Afghanistan in Istanbul and London and a global security policy meeting in Munich, and paid visits to Turkey, Cyprus and France.

Yang noted that China's relations with major states are facing both new opportunities and challenges when profound and complex changes are taking place in the world.

"It is of great significance for China to develop closer ties with major states and properly address major regional and international issues," he said.

The minister said that by attending multilateral meetings and paying bilateral visits, he has been able to exchange views with various parties and work out roadmaps for enhancing bilateral ties, thus helping better implement the consensus between leaders of China and other countries on bilateral ties and their cooperation on regional and international issues.

"Visits to Turkey, Cyprus and France have not only strengthened China's bilateral ties with these countries, but also promoted relations between China and Europe as well as the Islamic states," he said.

The minister said an important part of his tour was to engage in public diplomacy. Along with its greater international influence in wider spheres, China has attracted greater attention worldwide. The country has all the more reason to do a better job in public diplomacy, he said.

"We need to help people from various social sectors in other countries to have a correct understanding of China and its development and foreign policies through our active efforts in various forms, such as giving press conferences and making speeches. These will help enhance trust, clear up misgivings and broaden consensus," he said.

Yang said his attendance at the Afghanistan conferences showed China's support to the Afghan government and people, as well as China's positive stance on pushing for a solution to the Afghanistan issue. China's policies had got positive response and appreciation from the Afghanistan side and the international community.

On China-EU ties, Yang said that as each other's major trade partners, the two sides have maintained all-round, wide-ranging and multi-level cooperation, and formed an all-round strategic partnership.

The development of Sino-Europe ties indicated that sharing broad common interest, the two sides have been brought closely together by links of both past and present and of strategic consideration.

Yang said China is ready to work with Europe in ensuring the steady and sound development of their bilateral relations. He urged both sides to seek new cooperation priorities in the field of sustainable development and join hands in combating protectionism for the recovery of the world economy.

He also called for strengthened cultural and personnel exchanges to broaden and reinforce the basis of popular support for China-EU ties.